1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to hot water boilers, and particularly to the construction of a wet base hot water boiler heating apparatus having the capability of using various kinds of fuels either singly or in conjunction with each other.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Examples of previous heat extraction principles involving fire places found in prior patents include the use of air conduction as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos.: 1,371,390, issued Mar. 15, 1921 to J. S. Olds; 3,053,455, issued Sept. 11, 1962 to G. E. Eichenlaub; 3,744,477, issued July 10, 1973 to G. M. Andrews; and 3,965,865, issued June 29, 1976 to C. H. Nelson. In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 2,185,665, issued Jan. 2, 1940 to C. H. Ham, discloses a fireplace having a water-filled hollow double-walled shell disposed therein in which shell water is heated, while U.S. Pat. No. 3,394,697, issued July 30, 1968 to J. W. Lewis discloses a fireplace heating system built around an endless copper tube having an inlet and an outlet, with the water flow being controlled and the entire heat exchanger being attached on a metal frame so as to serve as a fireplace grate. Another example of a fireplace heat exchanger wherein the grate itself circulates a heat transfer medium can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,945,369, issued Mar. 23, 1976 to W. H. Adams et al.
An example of a multi-chamber boiler can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,894,493, issued July 14, 1959 to M. J. De Leonardis, which discloses a device in the form of a series of nesting chambers surrounding a heat source.
In a conventional hot water boiler, cold water is fed from the bottom of the boiler. After the hot water has picked up its greatest temperature, most of the heat above this point is lost up the flue of the device to contribute greatly to the waste of energy inherent in such conventional boilers. The consensus of opinion seems to be that a substantial amount of the heat generated by the combustion of fuels goes up the chimney of a fireplace, and the like.